


Open Space

by Whitewalkerqueen



Category: The Mandalorian (TV)
Genre: Angst and Fluff and Smut, Bisexual, Eventual Smut, F/M, Love, Romance, Slow Burn, Smut, also posted on Wattpad, but there’s going to be more smut here, drunk, itsgettingheated, she drinks a lot
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-01-07
Updated: 2020-02-25
Packaged: 2021-02-24 18:54:34
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 11
Words: 21,187
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22162762
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Whitewalkerqueen/pseuds/Whitewalkerqueen
Summary: “He looked up at her and had his blaster pointed towards her ready to fire. This didn't faze her in the slightest. She wasn't his enemy, and he wasn't hers, at least for now."The Mandalorian is leaving with two bounties from Nevarro. One a reclaimed bounty and the other a different kind of bounty he has yet to realize he needs."She shot the man running directly at her right in the head. Laesy never missed a shot. She never wasted her ammunition. She was fearless, most of the time."
Relationships: Baby Yoda & The Mandalorian (The Mandalorian TV), Cara Dune & Original Character(s), The Mandalorian (The Mandalorian TV) & Original Female Character(s), The Mandalorian (The Mandalorian TV)/Original Female Character(s)
Comments: 1
Kudos: 46





	1. Beskar

**Author's Note:**

> This fic is also posted on Wattpad 
> 
> Please enjoy! I seriously cannot get enough of the Mandalorian.
> 
> Sorry for any mistakes as I only quickly edited it

The galaxy was very large and empty, especially in the outer rim. The planets there, were few and far between and sparsely inhabited. The scarce inhabitants were not of the most pleasant type. Criminals. Mainly all criminals, bounty hunters, ex-rebels. It was a great place to hide.

  
A sudden loud boom woke Laesy up from her uncomfortable sleep. She had accidentally fall asleep outside the cantina in a drunken stupor. She frantically brushed her hands over her body and then down to her belt.

  
_It was still there._

  
Her blaster that her father had given her before he had left and never returned. It was the only thing she had left of her family and she would die to protect it. Another boom and rumble startled her to her feet. Her hand automatically snatched her blaster from its holster like it was basic instinct. She moved slowly down the alley way. Her legs were still a bit effected from the drinking escapade last night and weren’t as steady as she would like them to be. Laesy managed to push through and make it to where the alleyway met the open street. A blaster bolt hit the wall right next to her head. She pinned herself against the wall, almost tumbling over. The effects of the alcohol hadn’t worn off completely and she knew was wasn’t at full capacity to enter a shot out for no reason, no matter how much she wanted to. The blaster bolts were flying mainly in one direction, very concentrated. The occasional one would fly towards the group of people descending slowly towards something or someone. She could hear muted talking coming from further down the street. Something about giving up. Laesy leaned further around the corner to get a better look. She saw a man at the end of the street with his blaster pointed towards the transport that was only a few feet away from her. Suddenly a huge flame came shooting towards Laesy. She barely got back around the corner in time to not get her eyebrows and probably the rest of her face seared off. She could barely breathe but she brought her blaster up and aimed at where the flame came from. She paused. There was a man dressed in Mandalorian armour lying down on the transport.

  
_He must have thrown the flame._

  
But that’s not what caught her eye and made her stop in her tracks. It was the small green skinned buddle in his arms. It looked directly at her, no fear in its eyes, just wonder. She was frozen. She couldn’t will herself to shoot in that direction. She wanted to shoot the Mandalorian for trying to kill her, but she couldn’t risk accidentally hitting the baby. She paused for what felt like an eternity trying to decide what to do. The baby, the way he looked at her, pulled at her heartstrings. She wanted to protect it from all the bad things that were happening. The Mandalorian was under heavy fire and getting a few shots in here and there. He was shielding the baby with his life.

  
What could she do? She was one person. She couldn’t risk her life for this person she didn’t know. For this baby she didn’t know. Laesy willed herself from her spot and turned and walked away. She returned to the spot in the alley where she had fallen asleep and picked up her bag and flung it over her shoulder.

  
Laesy re-entered the cantina and took her favourite seat at the bar. The bartender droid came immediately over with a cup of whiskey. She nodded to the droid and sucked the whiskey back in one shot. It was certainly not a shot size, but she drank it all in one gulp. She slammed the cup down on the counter, which earned her a few stares. The sounds of the fight outside filtered into the cantina and this was not helping her keep her decision. She couldn’t risk her life for strangers again. Last time it almost cost her life and that of another person. She reached up and brush the scar on her arm under her sleeve. It was still sort of tender. A constant reminder of her carelessness, of her emotions getting the best of her. She waved to the droid and he started to pour another whiskey and brought it over. Laesy was not usually one to get drunk during the day but lately she couldn’t find a reason not to. She was beaten down. She took the whiskey like another shot and once again slammed it down on the counter earning her a few cheers from the patrons of the cantina. Some of which she had drank with the night before.

  
She was a woman of honour, or so she thought, despite all the killing she had done. But they were mostly for a good cause. Laesy had protected children in the past from Stormtroopers raids on small towns. Sometimes she got paid but others she was just there, and things happened. She had values, values that her father and mother had instilled in her. Values that she had acquired after seeing her family...destroyed. She had made up her mind. She was going back. She flung her bag over the counter towards the droid.  
“Watch my bag. I’ll be back.” She grabbed her vibroblade from her belt and turned towards the door to leave. “Hopefully.”

  
She started to stride confidently towards the door of the cantina and then paused. Laesy thought once more if she really wanted to do this. The child. It reminded her of her little sisters when they were just babies. He had the same look in his eyes that her youngest sister, Atilla, had when she was first born. Such hope. Laesy had hope back then as well, before her family had been ripped away by the Empire. But now was not the time for those memories. Laesy push the door open and headed back towards the fight. She could see twice as many blaster shots being fired and not only in the Mandalorian’s direction anymore. As she slowly approached the opening, she could see that there were bolts coming from the air as well. She pinned herself against the wall again and glanced up. Another Mandalorian.

_With a jet-pack. She thought in amazement. A whole covert on Navarro?_

  
There were several Mandalorians. Some in the air, some on the ground. They were defending him, helping the Mandalorian with the baby but he was still pinned down to the transport unable to get up and away. Laesy exited her hiding spot in the alley and darted towards the Mandalorian. He looked up at her and had his blaster pointed towards her ready to fire. This didn’t faze her in the slightest. She wasn’t his enemy, and he wasn’t hers, at least for now. Once she got into position, Laesy turned her back to the Mandalorian and the Child and started to shoot at the enemies, well what she presumed to be the enemy. She shot the man running directly at them right in the head. Laesy never missed a shot. She never wasted her ammunition. Laesy had been training with a blaster, all types of blaster, and other weapons since she could stand. Her father had told her that this was the only way to survive. To kill or be killed. This hardened Laesy. She was fearless, most of the time.  
She turned to her left to clear the incoming enemies with her blaster in one hand and her vibroblade in the other. One by one they went down. One of the men came charging at her from her right side with a long spear. Laesy was not caught off guard and ducked immediately at his first swing. He tried to jab at her side but she effortlessly dodged that. The man had lead forward, now within arm’s reach of Laesy and she spun on her heels and with one swipe of her vibroblade she slit the man across the chest. The man fell to the ground but Laesy had no time to stare at her handy work. She immediately returned to shooting at the other people in the street, defending the baby. The Mandalorians held off the majority of them but Laesy kept the baby safe.

  
“Go. Go now” she called out over her shoulder to the Mandalorian. She didn’t hear any movement from the transport.

  
_Was he dead? Had he been shot trying to get up?_

  
She looked over her shoulder after shooting a few more. He was still there, lying down cradling the baby. She took a few steps backwards to get closer to him, while still keeping her blaster pointed towards the fight.

  
“Get out of here, Mandalorian.” Urging him to take her advice. She saw the Mandalorian start to push up off of the floor of the transport vehicle still cradling the baby under his cape. The Mandalorian crawled off the transport with the blaster in the opposite hand shooting some stray bolts in the general fight direction. Laesy was still holding the attackers off for him to escape down the alley. The Mandalorian was just standing there shooting at the enemy.

  
_He was brave. Honourable._ She thought.

  
A flying Mandalorian came close to them and took a quick glance at Laesy before turning to speak to the other Mandalorian.

“Get out of here” the flying man said.

  
“You’ll have to relocate the covert.”

  
“This is the way.” He nodded and flew away.

  
The Mandalorian looked at Laesy who was now staring at him, her back turned to the fight. She was fascinated with him. His beskar was so shiny, there was so much. There were so many Mandalorian here. She had frequented this planet for some time now and had never known. She was so close to them this whole time, she could have...

  
Without warning there was a stinging pain in her back that pushed her to the ground cutting her off from her thoughts. The pain increased as she laid there on her side, not understanding what was going on. She must have been stabbed or shot; she couldn’t die here. She looked at the Mandalorian and pleaded for help with her eyes. Laesy saw the Mandalorian shoot at something behind her before her vision went black


	2. Cauterizing

_ The hut was on fire in front of her and the heat reached all the way to the other side of the village. The small house that she had called home for so long was up in flames, set ablaze in the middle of the night. The thatched roof was falling apart making it look like liquid fire was leaking from the roof. The flames were so bright you could barely tell it was night time. Her face was burning from the fire and from the anger she was feeling. She heard screaming from beyond the crate she had crouched behind. It was her sisters, both of them being dragged away by Stormtroopers. She watched as they slowly were taken away, the older one by her hair and the other was in the Stormtroopers arms. She was just a baby.  _

_ “Catalina! Atilla!” she cried. _

_ They got further and further away. She didn’t know what to do and if she did, she would be too scared to actually do anything. They dragged them behind the trees in the darkness where only the glow of the fire reflected on the Stormtroopers white armour. _

Laesy shot her eyes open with a fright. She was drenched in her own sweat from the nightmare. Panic arose inside when she looked around and realized she was inside a ship. This wasn’t her ship, not that she had a ship. The walls were all grey with a slight ribbed texture. There were only a couple shelves in the wall and a bed that took up almost the entirety of the room. There was only a narrow passageway on the left side for some one to barely squeeze by. Laesy tried to sit up using her arms but fell back down to the bed unable to put any weight on her left arm. She let out a cry of pain that she tried to muffle with her other hand as to not draw any attention.

_ What happened? Where am I? _

Laesy laid back down and tried to remember what happened last but the only memory she had was of the Mandalorian shooting. Had she been taken captive by the enemy and was now on their ship travelling across the galaxy. 

_ Was it the Mandalorian that took me captive? _

Captive was a strong word. She was not bound in cuffs or rope. Just in a room, in a nice bed. They wouldn’t give a prisoner a bed, let alone medical aid. She winced when she rolled onto her left shoulder and sat up. She reached up to feel what had been done to her arm. It was skillfully wrapped in a white cotton bandage. Her blood began to seep through and soak the outside of the bandage and it needed to be changed now. 

Abruptly, the door slides open. She nearly jumped out of the bed and reached for her blaster, but it wasn’t there. She frantically searched for it quickly before returning her attention to the door. Laesy tried to push herself up from the bed but winced again and tumbled back down again. She didn’t try and get up again, but just laid there and sighed. 

“You” she said after adjusting to get more comfortable. It was the Mandalorian. He said nothing as he stepped further into the small room. 

_ So, he had captured me.  _ Once again captured being the wrong word.

She eyed him as he cautiously approached her. The girl noticed that she was probably in his room and immediately became hyper aware. Her eyes flickered back to him and he was now only a few steps away from the bed waiting. She wasn’t sure what he wanted but once he gestured to her shoulder, she sat up slowly trying to avoid pain and scooted to the foot of the bed to make it easier for him. 

“Did you do this?” she asked, both asking if he’d bandaged her up and if he shot her as she couldn’t remember clearly. 

“It needs to be changed” the Mandalorian replied in his husky voice inside his helmet. His voice modulator only made him sound more intimidating but Laesy enjoyed it. 

“What happened?” Adjusting to allow her arm to face him more conveniently. The Mandalorian was covered head to toe in beskar. His hands were covered in brown leather gloves and in between his beskar was strong canvas padding to protect him but also allow agility. She was fascinated with him. The beskar was gorgeous. She hadn’t seen that much beskar in a very long time. Not since…

She was cut off from her thoughts as he pulled the old bandage away. It had pulled some dry blood with it and opened the almost healed portion up again. She winced as ever so carefully he pulled it away from her skin. Laesy realized that her sleeve was missing all the way up to her shoulder, which was also torn to shreds. 

“Hey! What did you do to my shirt?” she said frowning and trying to touch her shoulder. “This was expensive. Well not really I stole it but still.”

The Mandalorian had not replied to her and only kept working at her arm. It was hard for her to see her wound as it was located on the back of her shoulder. It stung like hell and throbbed to the beat of her heart. Laesy had faced much worse injuries in her past. She had scars all over her body from blaster fire, vibroblades and other weapons, but this one hurt particularly a lot. 

“Blaster shot?” she asked, but only received a grunt in reply. It must have been from far away as it didn’t go all the way through.

After several painful minutes the Mandalorian had finished cleaning the wound with a cloth. She took this time to stare at his beskar, to admire it. He was sitting very close to her and leaning in. The girl desperately wanted to touch it and feel it under her fingers. Her eyes trailed down the top of his helmet to the corner of his T visor. She only looked at this for a brief moment as she felt his eyes had shifted from her wound to her face. Laesy blushed. She looked away immediately and tried to hide her face by brushing her messy hair away from her face with her free arm. 

_ He was just a random Mandalorian, Laesy. Control yourself. You didn’t even blush when that handsome man in the cantina called you beautiful and was actively trying to court you. He’s just… just… helping you, for some reason _

“Hey. Why are you helping me?” She turned abruptly to look at him the best she could from this angle. There was a long pause as he was examining the wound. He had moved slightly more behind her to get a better look at it and she could only see the side of his helmet now. “Hey Mandalorian? Do you not speak basic? I’m talking to you.” She was getting frustrated and Laesy always did. She had a short temper and sometimes that got her into trouble. She jerked around to now face him with her legs crossed in front of her. 

The Mandalorian stopped what he was doing and stared directly at Laesy’s eyes. She didn’t back down not even blink but, unfortunately for her she was blushing. She tried to give him her best serious look but felt very small under his gaze. She didn’t feel herself and she didn’t like it. No man, well she assumed he was male, had made her feel like this before. 

“You helped me.” He finally said breaking the all to awkward silence and stood up and walked towards a small shelf on the wall. Laesy followed him with her eyes and noticed him picking up a small pen like object. “I can cauterize it for you, but it will hurt.”

Laesy looked down at her hands and tried to take the right hand to reach for her wound on her left shoulder. It led to a lot of pain and she let out a small cry. She turned to look back at him. The Mandalorian didn’t move muscle. She’d had wounds cauterized before but by medics and professionally trained people. It hurt then and she had numbing spray. She knew she could just leave the wound open or she would possibly bleed out or get a deadly infection. It had to be done. 

“Fine.” She turned around so her shoulder was completely exposed to him. 

“It will hurt a lot.” He said before sitting down on the small stool behind her. She shivered as he pushed what was left of her sleeve aside and exposed the entirely of her wound. Laesy closed her eyes and wait for the pain but it didn’t come. She slightly turned her head to see him staring at her back.

_ What was he waiting for? _

_ __ _

The Mandalorian was frozen in place with the cauterizing pen in his right hand. He was unsure if he wanted to do this to her. It would cause her immense pain. He has done it to himself numerous times and he was taken aback by the pain. 

“Are you going to do it?” she said. He hadn’t realized that she had turned half way to look at him. He looked through his visor at her soft face. She was unconventionally beautiful. Speaking like he’s met many beautiful women, but in fact he hadn’t. She was one of the few. Her skin on her arm and the rest of her body looked so soft. He had a burning urge to touch it. “Just do it, Mandalorian.” He immediately snapped out of his daze and turned on the pen. 

He leaned forward and placed his gloved hand on her back. She was just another girl that had helped save him and the child. He doesn’t care if this hurts her a lot, he thought. The Mandalorian started in the corner of the wound and would make his way to the other side. It was a long gash as the bolt just grazed her skin but deep enough for it to bleed significantly. The moment the pen touched her skin and she jumped and he paused. 

“Just go!” she grunted, gripping her knees harder. 

The Mandalorian started again and she tried to muffle her cries of pain with her hand and biting her lip but he could still hear everything. She was almost convulsing from the pain that he was causing her. At one point almost halfway through the scar her hand came flying backwards and she grabbed his knee and arched her back without warning, he nearly burned her back. The Mandalorian immediately paused and took the pen farther away from her body as to not cause any more damage. She gripped tightly to his knee like she was trying to wait out a wave of pain. The Mandalorian didn’t move. She slowly loosened her grip on his knee as the pain seemed to have subsided. Then her hand was gone. But he could still feel where it had been. He looked down at where it had laid. A small whine coming from the girl snapped him back into focus and he continued cauterizing. 

He was still working for a few more minutes and her muffled cries had become fully audible. She was moving from grabbing her knee to slamming her fists into the bed. 

“Stop moving so much.” She was making it very difficult for him to continue and his work was becoming sloppy. He had gotten to the largest portion of the opening and she had started to scream in pain. Her convulsing became more frequent and he barely made it to the end of the wound before she passed out again backwards into his arms.


	3. Spotchka

The ship shook slightly and woke Laesy up from her sleep. Immense pain filled her entire left arm. She tried to reach for it but was overcome with pain. She remembered the cauterizing that the Mandalorian had done earlier. If she wasn’t in pain before she was now. She could feel the scar that was formed but was thankful it had been done. Much worse things could have happened to her without his help.

She had been in bed for far too long and her legs were going numb. Laesy slowly started to rise and scoot towards the edge of the bed where her feet dangled off, as she scanned the room for her boots. The Mandalorian had taken them off when he brought her back to his ship for the first time. Getting up from the bed proved to be painful, as she was sore from not only her shoulder being shot but from almost every muscle in her body being stiff.

_ How long have I been out? _

After adorning her boots, she pushed the control panel and the door slid open. The belly of the ship was also grey but had many compartments. She made her way towards the ladder that she believed led up to the cockpit. Laesy gripped the first rung with her right arm and struggled to reach the top. Her body was fighting her every move to ascend the ladder. Small grunts and gasps escapes her mouth each time she moved up. There weren't very many steps but it took her longer than it should have.

Once she reached the top, she saw the Mandalorian was sitting in the cockpit flying the ship. He provided zero help to assist Laesy but that did not bother her, she had gotten through much worse. She sat in the co-pilot seat without saying a word. She admired the stars and wondered if one of them was her home planet. She wondered what the rest of the people were doing and if they were doing alright. It had been a long time since she returned to her home planet. Her house was gone but that’s not what makes a home, it’s the people and the family. What family? Laesy questioned. Anger and sorrow began to rise inside her chest, creating a knot.

“Got any alcohol on this hunk of junk?” She knocked on the control panel and a small piece fell off. She looked over at the Mandalorian and smiled wearily.

“How is your shoulder?” He asked.

“Oh... ugh... it’s great. Peachy!” She winced as she reached for it. The Mandalorian didn’t even turn his head to look at her. Laesy returned to admiring the stars and the controls. The Mandalorians hands grazed over the controls so smoothly, making it seem easy to fly the ship.

There was a small gurgle from the back corner of the cockpit and Laesy’s head snapped in that direction. She notices a small green head with big black eyes peering at her from the chair.

“The baby!” Laesy immediately spun her chair around and reached her arms out towards the green monster. The baby did the same and she picked him it. Cradling him in her arms, he reached up and played with her long dark hair. He was certainly very cute and curious. The baby started to move and Laesy tried to adjust her arm to better hold him but not without gasping in pain.

“Ok, time to go down little guy.” Laesy placed the baby back on the seat and looked at the Mandalorian.

_ How did he end up with this little guy? _

“Is he your... uhh... kid?” Laesy asked. Trying not to sound awkward but the Mandalorian couldn’t look like that under his helmet. Where would his ears go, she thought.

“No. Sort of, no. I’m protecting him for now.” The Mandalorian slightly turned his head to try and look at her injured shoulder. “It’s still bleeding. You passed out last night so I couldn’t finish cauterizing but I think it’ll be fine.”

Laesy turned to look at him in confusion. “I passed out?”

“Yes.” He was short and returned to the controls quickly. Laesy didn’t pay any mind to this and just returned to the awkward silence that was there all along.

She suddenly became aware that her shirt was nearly torn off and begun to feel self conscious. After all he was a man and they were alone on a ship. On his ship. “You didn’t happen to grab my bag from the cantina before you dragged me to your ship?”

The Mandalorian flipped a switch on the control panel and removed his hands from the controls. “I didn’t drag you to my ship like some bounty.” He stated with a harsher tone then he intended. “I carried you.”

Laesy felt her heart tighten. “Thanks.” She blurted out. She had forgotten to say that earlier when he first came into the room but she was confused. She was still confused. Laesy was now on a strange man’s ship and going in a direction she doesn’t know. The Mandalorian didn’t reply to Laesy and simply turned his chair and picked up the little green baby. He held him close as he returned to his screen on his dashboard.

“Lets see. Sorgan. Looks like there’s no star part, no industrial centres, no population density. Real back water slug hole.” He paused and looked down at the baby. “Which means it’s perfect for us. You ready to lay low and stretch our legs for a couple months, you little whomp rat?” The baby cooed with excitement at the Mandalorians voice. The Mandalorian shifted his gaze from the baby towards Laesy. “I can drop you off somewhere first. You don’t have to come with us.”

Laesy looked between the Mandalorian and the baby. She didn’t really have anywhere else to go. The only reason she was on Nevarro was because her last lead had brought her there and she had no way off world yet. She was sort of enjoying her time there, especially at the cantina. This would be a new adventure. The Mandalorian had never hurt her intentionally and she could certainly hold her own.

“I’d like to stay... to help protect the baby.” Laesy let a smirk escape her lips.

“I don’t need help.”

“You did back on Nevarro, if I recall correctly.” She spit back and the Mandalorian just shook his head. “My name is Laesy Seccand by the way.”

_____

After a little while, they began their approach to Sorgan. The planet was covered in trees and lakes. It was beautiful. Laesy had seen many planets but this one was her favourite by far. The Mandalorian expertly landed the ship in an open space. After turning the ship off he got up and looked at both of them. The baby was now sitting in Laesy’s lap enjoying the snuggles.

“Stay here, you two. I’m going to go look for food and lodging.” He was stern but Laesy was stubborn.

“I’m coming. We’re coming.” She stated and stood up with the baby in her arms.

“Stay here.” He said and turned his back to walk out of the ship. Laesy was not one to follow orders very well so, after a brief pause she pushed off of the seat with the baby in her arms and headed out behind him. The Mandalorian paused when he heard her foot steps behind him and he sighed knowing what was next.

“What the hell, come one.”

The walk to the village was longer and a bit more confusing than Laesy had hoped. The baby was following at her heels. He had some difficulty getting over large logs and rocks and would fall behind. Laesy asked the Mandalorian to slow his pace to accommodate him.

They eventually reached the village and entered a little cantina. Laesy sighed in relief knowing she could finally get that drink she wanted to desperately have on the ship after everything. They sat at a small table against the wall.

“Welcome travellers. Can I interest you in anything?” A tall medium build woman said while wiping her hands.

“Bone broth for the little one.” The mandalorian said, the baby gurgled in response..

“Well you’re in luck. Just took down a gringer, so there’s plenty.” She said placing her hands on her hips. “Can I interest either of you in a porringer of broth as well?”

The Mandalorian looked over at Laesy and nodded.

“Yes please i’ll have one.” Laesy piped. “Oh and something alcoholic.”

The Mandalorian continued to stare at Laesy.

“Anything for you, sir?” The waitress gestured to her bar. The Mandalorian simply shook his head no.

“That one over there. When did she arrive?” He nodded in a woman’s direction.

“I’ve seen her here for the last couple weeks or so.”

“What’s her business here?” The Mandalorian leaned in further onto the table all while keeping an eye on the woman in the corner.

“Business? Oh well there’s not much business on Sorgan.” The woman chuckled. The Mandalorian placed a few credits on the table. “She doesn’t strike me as a log runner.” She picked up the credits and briefly weighed them in her hands. “Well thank you, sir.”

The woman retreated and the Mandalorian suddenly stood up. He had noticed that the woman in the corner was gone.

“Watch the kid.” He said and briskly walked out of the cantina presumably after the woman. Laesy stayed where she sat with the kid patiently waiting for her drink. She wasn’t too worried about the Mandalorian. She was confident he could take care of himself. Laesy watched everyone else is the cantina. They were all taking glances at at the pair. Laesy didn’t mind. She was used to the attention from other people in cantinas. Usually she was loud and very talkative but that was after several drinks.

The waitress came back with the soups and drink they ordered. “Spotchka, the finest drink we have at the bar” The waitress said.   
  
The kid was very eager to start drinking his soup and Laesy was eager to start drinking her alcohol. She practically chugged the entire thing. She slammed the cup down on the table and waved to the waitress for another one. She was consumed by her usual ways and forgot that she was watching the baby. She looked over to where he was sitting but he was gone. She began to panic. She looked under and around the table but he was gone. Just as she was starting to stand up she noticed the Mandalorian and the woman from the corner walking in. The Mandalorian was holding the kid in his arms.

“Nice job watching.” The Mandalorian said harshly as he placed the kid back in his seat. “This is Cara Dune. She was an ex-shock trooper.”

Laesy looked at Cara from head to toe. Examining her every inch. She was quite the specimen she thought. Just at that moment the waitress brought over Laesy’s second drink.

“Would you like one Cara Dune?” Laesy raised her cup to the woman in question. Cara simply nodded and Laesy ordered her a drink. “So what is an ex-shock trooper doing here?”

Cara shifted in her seat. “Call it an early retirement.” The drink arrive and Laesy raised her glass to Cara before taking a lengthy sip.

“The alcohol isn’t the same on this planet. It’s strong. Might want to slow down there.” Cara advised Laesy who was still sipping.

Wiping her face, Laesy put down the cup. “I can handle my alcohol.”

The Mandalorian just sat there scoping out the cantina. The kid was still slowly sipping him soup and cooing softly at every gulp.

“So did you see any action?” Laesy poked at Cara.

“Saw most of my action mopping up after Endor. Mostly ex-imperial warlords. They wanted it fast and quiet. They had sent us in on the drop ships.” Cara took another sip of her drink and continued. “No support, just us. And when the Imps were gone, the politics started. We were peacekeepers, protecting delegates, suppressing riots. That’s not what I signed up for.”

“Is that’s why you are here?” Laesy asked

“Something like that.” There was an awkward silence afterwards which gave Laesy time to finish her drink and order another. She asked Cara if she wanted one but she said no. Laesy was drinking alone. The Mandalorian and Cara exchanges a few more words before Cara told them that she needed them to move on and the Mandalorian agreed.

“It’s time to go.” The Mandalorian was already standing up and helping the baby off of his chair. Laesy on the other hand was in no mood to leave. She had already had 3 drinks and had ordered one more.

“No!” She shouted with a giggle to follow.

“Let’s go!” He tried to reach for her but she moved skillfully out of the way. “You’re drunk.” He rolled his eyes at her behind his helmet.

“I’m not going with you.” Laesy now more frustrated pouted. “Leave me here then if you want to leave.”

The Mandalorian did not hesitate one bit. He picked up the child and walked towards the door.

“You’re just going to leave me here?” Laesy stood up and shouted across the bar.

“That’s what you wanted. You can find your way back to the ship.” She called as he pushed the cloth flap covering the door aside. Her fourth drink finally arrived and she chugged it back slamming it down on the table. She got up and went to go sit at the bar counter.

“Hey. Got any whiskey?” She asked the bartender. He poured her what she wanted and she shot it back fast. This was going to be an interesting night she thought.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please if you like it let me know !
> 
> Thank you all for reading :) More to come soon !


	4. Return

The whole bar was cheering. The sound flooded out into the village and that only attracted more people. Laesy, of course, was at the heart of the commotion. She had drank a few too many drinks, not knowing that Spotchka was stronger than her usual alcoholic drinks. She had become the entertainment of the whole bar. People were challenging her in games of cards and fighting and every time she won they would buy her more drinks. Laesy was never one to back down from any challenge therefore the drinks just kept coming. 

After winning a few fights Laesy stepped outside for a breath of fresh air and to cool off. She had just fought a very large person and knocked the wind out of her several times but she was faster and eventually pinned him. Laesy leaned against the metal wall of the cantina and let her head rest in her hands. She took deep breaths trying to calm down after the fight. Laesy saw boots appear in front of her and she slowly looked up. The boots were connected to a man and he was tall and had short brown hair. His eyes were a beautiful shade of green that she had never seen before. He was a striking figure and Laesy couldn’t keep her eyes off him.

“What is a beautiful lady like you doing alone?” The man asked.

“Having fun.” Laesy giggled uncontrollably. They were right this alcohol was unusually strong. Laesy batted her long eyelashes towards the man.

“Can I buy you a drink?” He asked Laesy, smirking.

“Maybe.” She said enticingly. 

“You let every other man in this place buy you one but not me.”

“I won those. They were payment.” Laesy pushed off the wall so she was just a few inches away from the man’s chest. She liked the feeling of being close to him. She slowly started to bring her hands up towards his chest but just before he could settle them on his chest the man caught them. The tall man pulled her even closer to him and she gasped. Laesy tried to pull away but he was stronger than her in her current state. He pushed them back against the tree and she hit her shoulder hard causing her to wince. She no longer liked this. She had no intentions of having this happen tonight. Laesy just wanted a few drinks, play games and go back to the ship. Laesy pounded on his chest to try and get away but to no avail, he had her pinned. 

“What happened to your sleeve?” He asked.

“A fight.”

“You get into a lot of those, I see.” He let his hand fall down her bare arm very slowly, sending a shiver down Laesy’s spine.

“You are beautiful.” He whispered into her ear making her shiver again. She continued to struggle against him but he only tightened his grip against her. She was unable to reach any of her weapons to help her. The man brought one of his hands up to her face a stroked it softy. She flinched at his touch and a scowl appeared on her face. “The things I want to do to you.”

“I’m with someone.” She tried to defend herself. Anything to help her get out of this situation. She was too impaired to fight any harder. She couldn’t escape.

“Oh is that so? Well I don’t see them here. Who is it then?” He mocked. 

A familiar click could be heard from behind the man and he froze. Laesy’s eyes shot open and she peered around the stunned man to see none other then the Mandalorian.

“What are you doing here?” Laesy said still pinned to the wall. 

“It’s time to go.” The Mandalorian grabbed the other man's shoulder pulling him off of Laesy. She ran away from the wall and stood next to the Mandalorian. 

The Mandalorian didn’t move his blaster away from the man’s face, now with his back pinned against the wall after stumbling from the Manadolorian’s grab. He simply nodded for the man to get away from them. He obliged without hesitation and ran off. 

“Thank you, again.” She found herself saying while lowering her head. “I’m sorry you had to get involved. I had it handled. I swear!” This alcohol  _ was _ strong she thought.

“Let’s go.” The Mandalorian turned and walked towards the door. This time Laesy followed behind him closely. 

A while had passed with Laesy stumbling behind the Mandalorian before she decided to break the silence. “Where is the kid?” She asked.

“The ship.” The cold tone he used sent shivers down Laesy’s back.

“Will he be ok? All alone?”

“Yes.” The silence continued for a while after that. Laesy had difficulty walking through the dark forest persisted. She thought that the effects should have worn of by now but they hadn't. 

_ What was in this alcohol to make it so strong? _

She kept tripping over logs she couldn’t see. She hadn’t fallen yet but that was soon to come. She had fallen so far behind she could barely see the Mandalorian. Her only guide was the moon’s reflection off of his armour. 

Laesy found herself on her hands and knees, laughing. She had tripped over a rock and failed to catch herself. Her hands clutched her stomach as she laughed even harder. She saw the Mandalorians feet approach her but she couldn’t stop laughing. Laesy looked up at his helmet, now shining in the moonlight and couldn’t help but stare. He was certainly giving her a scowl at this point but she didn’t care. Laesy’s laughter came to a slow stop as they just stared at one another. He stuck out his hand to help stand up. She took it without hesitation and got to her feet. Their hands lingered together for a bit longer then needed. Laesy looked down at their hands and involuntarily squeezed his hand. The Mandalorian pulled away quickly upon realizing this and turned around to continue walking without a word.

Laesy continued walking much more cautiously now not wanting another tumble. The Mandalorian also slowed his pace to accommodate her better.

“Mando… If I can call you that,” she paused waiting for his reply but he never gave one so she continued “Mando, why were you at the bar?” Another pause waiting for his response but once again nothing. She had caught up to him and placed her hand on his shoulder. He stopped immediately and she nearly ran into his back. “Did you come back for me?”

The Mandalorian only turned his head slightly to look over his shoulder at her. “I was… you hadn’t… I didn’t want to deal with you getting overly drunk. But it seems I was too late for that.”

Laesy frowned at him. “You could have not left me in the first place.” 

The Mandalorian sighed but couldn’t form an answer. Laesy brushed past him and continued walking back to the ship.

___

They had reached the tree line just outside the ship and the Mandalorian froze in his tracks. He pulled out his blaster very slowly aiming it towards the ship. Laesy did the same. The Mandalorian had returned it to her before they landed on Sorgan.

“What’s going on?” Laesy asked. He held up his hand to silence her. She narrowed her eyes in the direction of the ship and noticed two men and a transport vehicle. The Mandalorian slowly crept forward until he was out of the treeline, blaster in front of him.

“There something I can help you with?” he said as he continued to approach the men. Laesy followed closely behind him also blaster pointing at the men. The men turned around and stepped back so quickly they almost fell over.

“Yes. We mean no harm. There are raiders at our village,” one man said timidly “we have money.”

“So you think I am some kind of mercenary, huh?” The Mandalorian said, lowering his blaster after realizing there was no threat. He side stepped to be in between the men and his ship now.

“You’re a Mandalorian, right? The man with long hair said. “Or at least wear Mandalorian armour. That is Mandalorian armour isn’t it?” The other man said.

“It is.” The Mandalorian said coldly. Laesy started to make her approach next to the Mandalorian now.

“I’ve read a lot about your people…uhh… tribe. If half of what I heard is true.” The long haired man began but was cut off.

“We have money?” the other said.

“How much?” Laesy asked before the Mandalorian could say anything.

“It’s everything we have. Our whole harvest was stolen.” One said holding out the small pouch of money.

“We’re farmers, krill farmers. We brew Spotchka.” The smaller one stated.

These men meant no harm, they couldn’t even defend their own village. Laesy reached out and grabbed the pouch they were holding out. She weighed it in her hand and looked up at the Mandalorian.

“Let’s help them.” Laesy leaned out and tried to whisper to him.

“It’s not enough.” He said, snatching the pouch from Laesy and threw it back to the men. Their heads sank along with Laesy’s.

“Are you sure? You don’t even know what the job is.” The men were still standing there, heads held low.

“I know it’s not enough.” The armoured man turned around and opened the ramp to the ship and started ascending it inside.

“It’s not enough. Good luck.” Laesy just looked at the Mandalorian as he started to disappear inside the ship. She hurried after him and grabbed his arm pulling him around to face her.

“We can help them. I know we can.” Laesy pleaded, searching for his eyes.

“We have more back at the village. We can get you more.” There was a long pause, no one said anything. Laesy still pleading with her eyes to the Mandalorian.

The two men started to turn away after realizing they weren’t going to get help. Laesy sighed and walked around the Mandalorian further into the ship.

“Let’s go. Took us the whole day to get here. Now we have to ride back with no protection to the middle of nowhere.” The men sighed.

The Mandalorian froze. “Where do you live?

“On a farm, weren’t you listening?” One of them replied.

“In the middle of nowhere?” He pursued. The long haired man nodded. “You have lodging?”

“Yes absolutely.” The other stuttered.

“Good now come up and help.”

Laesy turned back to face the Mandalorian and a large smile erupted on her face. She was glad they were going to help these men. They reminded her of the people from her home village. Just simple farmers. The Mandalorian walked past Laesy and started to gather his things. Laesy went to the room and collected a few medical supplies to continue the care of her shoulder, where she found the child. He reached up for her to pick him up and she obliged. He cooed at her when she snuggled him close.

“Hey little guy looks like we will have a home soon.” The little green child looked up at her brown eyes. He was so innocent, she thought. She walked out of the room and went to go place the child on the back of the vehicle. He happily sat among a few blankets playing with the strings hanging from the crates.

Returning to the belly of the ship she noticed that the Mandalorian had left after asking the men for their credits. She couldn’t believe he still took their money. Laesy struggled to help lift the crates into the vehicle, groaning each time as her shoulder hurt.

The Mandalorian eventually returned with Cara Dune following closely behind and she knew the credits were for her. 

“Hey!” Laesy called to Cara.

“I’m surprised you’re still alive there,” Cara joked, “after I didn’t see you leave the bar with the Mandalorian, I got scared for a minute.”

“Yeah. I drank a lot.” Laesy said scratching the back of her head.

Once everyone was loaded into the transport they began to move down the path. The Mandalorian stretched out and leaned back looking up into the stars, Laesy sitting next to him with the baby on her lap. Cara had already passed out at the end of the cart with her hands behind her head. A yawn escaped Laesy’s lips and brought the child closer to her chest. She shifted from her left side to her right side to try and get comfortable with her shoulder. After a few minutes of struggling she looked over at the Mandalorian who was now leaning back with his arms folded behind his head for support. Liquid courage still running through her veins, Laesy scooted closer to the Mandalorian and leaned her head against his chest assuming he was asleep. The cold beskar provided little comfort for her head but the position provided relief for her shoulder.

The Mandalorian did not move a muscle as Laesy slowly lowered her head onto his chest with the baby in her arms. There was something about her that he couldn’t brush off and that’s what made him go back for her at the bar. She had been there for too long and he was worried she had gotten hurt. When he saw her with a man, his blood began to boil. 

Laesy shifted in his chest and his arm came naturally around her body to allow her to adjust properly. The Mandalorian found this position comfortable and began to doze off himself. Before his mind went numb, a pull inside his chest began and he took one last look at the girl and the child and sighed. He was content in that moment. 


	5. Village

Cara had woken up first from the morning light skinning down on the group. The breeze was warm and smelled of fresh forest. Cara looked over at the three others sleeping together. The Mandalorian still had his arm around the girl and she was nuzzled deep into his chest, almost shivering from her torn shirt. The baby was cuddled in between them peacefully asleep. Laesy shifted a little in her sleep and the Mandalorian wrapped his arm tighter around her. There was still a little way to go until they would reach the village and Cara didn't bother waking them up. She leaned back and closed her eyes looking up towards the warm morning sun.

The transport stopped a short while later. Laesy woke up with a jerk. Her eyes snapped open and she was met with a very shiny sight. Shifting her head slightly she glanced up towards the Mandalorian and realized she was still curled on his chest. The villagers were starting to approach the vehicle and the child had woken up and was smiling at them with wide eyes. He was going to like it here. Laesy slowly started to get up but was held in place by something. She soon realized that the Mandalorian had his arm around her. Laesy tried to snake her way out of his arm without waking him up. After several attempts she could feel the arm slowly star to lift off her and she looked up at the Mandalorian. He cleared his throat and this was her que to get up. Laesy grabbed the child and dismounted from the transport and headed towards Cara who was speaking with a woman.

"Hello. Welcome." A gentle woman said with a warm smile spread across her lips. Laesy nodded to the woman and the child in her arms cooed. After exchanging introductions, Omera, she learned was the gentle woman, led them to their respective sleeping quarters. Omera led the Mandalorian and Laesy to a fairly large structure.

"I'm sorry that all we have is the barn." Omera said apologetically.

"This is perfect. Thank you." The Mandalorian moved further into the barn and started placing his thing on the far wall.

"I have placed some blankets in the corner for you to use." Omera gestured with a smiles.

"Thank you," Laesy said "This will do just fine." Laesy placed the child she had been holding in the crib Omera provided.

"Can I get you anything else?"

Laesy smirked, "Spotchka?"

The Mandalorian immediately turned around from his task. "No!" His reply firm. Laesy glared at him, daggers in her eyes. He had no right to decide what she can and can't have.

"With supper tonight?" Omera offered and Laesy nodded with a small timid smile.

They both began to unpack once Omera had left the barn. Laesy started placing the little belongings she had with her in a corner and turned to help the Mandalorian with his numerous crates. After unpacking in silence for a while, she paused and turned towards the Mandalorian, after something dawned on her.

"There's only one cot." Laesy said. She didn't particularly want to sleep on the floor but if she had to she would. She was more concerned about his privacy.

Does he sleep with all his armour on?

"I'll sleep on the floor, over there." The Mandalorian gestured towards the corner next to the crib. Laesy felt bad.

"No its fine. It's warm here and I want you to be comfortable. I'll just sleep outside, after getting new clothes from Omera of course." Laesy brushed her hands up and down her shirt, feeling every rip along the only sleeve remaining. "Some sleeves ought to do the trick!" Laesy smiled in the Mandalorians direction.

"If you so desire." He said flatly and returned to unpacking. Laesy's brow frowned and she was shocked he would agree but she had suggested it so she had to live with it. Shrugging she left the barn in search of clothing.

____

Omera returned from a small room in the back with a small pile of clothes for Laesy. "These should fit just fine. They are some of my older ones. I'm sorry, I don't have time to make you your own."

Reaching for the clothes, "These are perfect. Thank you."

Omera opened a small curtain leading to a room with a bed in it, "you can change behind here." Laesy entered and quickly slipped off what was left of her shirt, being careful not to hurt her shoulder. Her shoulder was healing nicely and only hurt when she moved it in a certain way. The bleeding had practically stopped so she removed her bandage before putting the dress over her head. Laesy had never worn a dress in her whole life and she felt very exposed despite having matching blue pants underneath.

"You look beautiful," Omera said as Laesy emerged from behind the curtain, "Someone will be happy to see you like this."

Laesy blushed, "Oh it's not like that... were aren't. No." She stumbled over her words, feeling very flustered at Omera's statement. Laesy brushed her dress flat against her and turned around to pick up her discarded clothing. Omera smirked at her with a knowing smile but Laesy didn't react. The Mandalorian certainly didn't care about her, he's letting her sleep outside and he left her at the bar. She could certainly handle herself as she spent most of her adult life alone. She definitely didn't want to care for the Mandalorian.

"I can wash and repair these so you can have two pairs of clothing at least." Laesy handed Omera her torn clothing and thanked her before leaving the hut. She wandered around the village looking at everything. All of the people were smiling at her and this made her feel very self-conscious. Usually she got scowls and stares from passersby. Laesy eventually found the child playing with all the other children and she paused to admire how happy he was. He was chasing frogs with the kids and he was clearly an expert. All of the children giggled and ran around with the kid, he was at home here.

Laesy eventually made her way back to the barn to find the Mandalorian cleaning his rifle. She knocked on the door frame to announce her entrance as to not startle him. He glanced up from his rifle quickly and returned his gaze back to the rifle only to do a double take. It didn't go unnoticed and she suppressed a smile. Laesy continued towards the Mandalorian fascinated by his rifle.

"Your rifle... I Like it. Can I shoot it?" The Mandalorian kept wiping it down.

"No" Laesy didn't press any further and just sat down on a crate.

She fiddled with the bottom of her knee length dress while the Mandalorian continued to clean his rifle.

"I'm sorry about what happened at the bar." Laesy finally broke the silence in the room. She looked over at the Mandalorian still cleaning his rifle. He said nothing. "I was really drunk. The alcohol here is stronger than normal."

She thought she heard a snort coming from the Mandalorian but she wasn't sure, his voice modulator covered it up very well.

"What were you doing with that man?" He stopped what he was doing and faced Laesy. She felt his gaze heavy on her.

"Nothing. He came at me and I tried to push him away" Laesy felt small under his gaze. She knew she didn't have to explain herself to him but she felt like it was important.

"It didn't look like that" he said and turned around to fiddle with something.

Laesy's mouth immediately sprang into a smirk. "Is that jealousy, I hear?"

The Mandalorian scoffed at her and didn't say another word.

__

The moons had risen high in the sky and the villagers were all starting to return to their huts. Laesy had eaten with the rest of the villagers while Omera had brought food the barn for the Mandalorian. Laesy made her way back to the barn to find it empty. her shoulder had been paining her all night and she knew it was time to reapply the ointment. She searched through her bag for the cream that she grabbed from the medical supplies of the ship. She pulled it out and took a seat on the bed. Laesy had twisted in some strange position, trying to pull down her sleeve to better apply the ointment but that did not help. She struggled for a few minutes before she heard a quiet laugh coming from the door. At that sound she unwinded and stared at the Mandalorian.

"Thanks." She got up and chucked the ointment back into her bag.

He continued to laugh a bit at her frustration. "Do you need help?"

"I'm fine. It'll be fine" She reached down to grab a blanket and tried to suppress her pain. It didn't go unnoticed and the Mandalorian went to go grab the ointment.

"Sit." He said pointing towards a crate he pulled in front of the bed. Without protest Laesy sat down with her back to the Mandalorian. He slowly opened the jar up and pushed his gloved finger into the soft cream. He placed the jar back down and with his free hand pushed her sleeve down as far as it would go down her shoulder. It only revealed a small portion of the now almost healed scar. He applied the ointment to the little part he could and then tried to pull it down even more but to no avail. "Can you...umm.. remove your sleeve?"

Laesy shivered at the sound of his voice. She could feel his fingers lingering on her skin.

"I can't just slide the sleeve off. I'm going to have to take my dress off." Laesy didn't turn around when she spoke those words. She could hear the Mandalorians hands fall to his knees. Laesy began to slowly take off her dress over her head. She kept it so she was still fully covered in the front but her back was exposed to him.

The Mandalorian didn't know where to look. Every fiber in his body was telling him to watch her slowly take off her dress but he knew not to but she couldn't see him anyways,her back was facing him. He decided to stare. She revealed her pale skin to him. His hands inside his gloves began to sweat and he kept flexing his fingers. Her back had small scars littered all over it. Once she was ready for the ointment, he opened the jar again and lathered his finger again. His hands were hesitant in touching her shoulder despite doing it earlier. He slowly applied the cold cream to her scar and spread it evenly.

Laesy couldn't hold back the shiver that escaped from her as soon as his fingers touched her back again. The ointment felt so soothing on her scar. The pain seemed to melt away. She hadn't realized he was done until she heard him get up off the bed.

"Thanks for your help, again." Laesy redressed and grabbed that blanket she wanted. Laesy held it to her chest and looked at the Mandalorian. "Goodnight." She smiled and started to head out the door.

"Wait" The Mandalorian moved to grab her wrist before she could leave. "Sleep in the bed. I'll sleep outside."

"Well that defeats the purpose of you having privacy. It's alright, I don't mind." Laesy assured him she would be fine outside. She had done it many times before and quite enjoyed it. He let go of her wrist and she went out the door shutting it behind her.

__

The Mandalorian started to slowly take off his armour, one piece at a time. Once he was in only his black underclothes and helmet he sat down on the bed. He sighed, frustrated with the effect Laesy has on him. He becomes speechless and can't do anything properly. The Mandalorian finally look his helmet off and placed it on the side table made of crates.

The Mandalorian couldn't find a comfortable spot in the bed. Several hours had passed and he hadn't found any sleep.

_How could I have let Laesy, sleep outside._

Laesy. He let her name linger on his mind. That was the first time he didn't refer to her as the girl in his mind. He had never used her name aloud, like it was a bad word to say. The Manadalorian turned his head to look at his helmet and saw his reflection in the moons like reflecting on it. his hair was messy with sweat and a lack of bathing and his face was worn. The Mandalorian reached out and grabbed his helmet while pushing off the bed with his other hand. He put his helmet on and made his way to the door.

He found Laesy outside asleep on the porch wrapped in a small blanket. He sighed and reached down to pick her up. Laesy's head nuzzled into his chest and he carried her to the bed and placed her down softly. He wasn't sleeping anyways so she might as well take the bed.


	6. Target

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Edited version of previous update of this chapter on Jan 24.
> 
> Please enjoy. There has been much added near the end

The sun was halfway complete its cycle by the time Laesy woke up. She was completely exhausted and this was the first time that she had a decent night's sleep.

Laesy slowly opened her eyes and stretched her arms above her head releasing the tension in her back. She moaned and a small smile grew on her face. Suddenly she noticed that she was not outside on the porch, where she had begun her sleep but on a soft bed. She sighed and realized she was on the Mandalorian’s cot that the villagers had lent him. She had told him she was fine sleeping outside. He must have moved her while she was sleeping. She finished her stretch and swung her legs over the edge of the bed, feeling the cold wood of the bar under her feet. She scrunched her toes up letting them feel the grooves in the worn wood floor. Looking out the partially obstructed window she could see the villagers working in their pods, collecting the krill that formed their livelihood.

After cleaning herself off with the small amount of water left in a bowl Omera had left for them, she made her way to the porch she was supposed to sleep on. Laesy squinted her eyes at the midday sun. She felt fully rested and started towards the pods, looking for the Mandalorian or the ex-shock trooper. Laesy took in a deep breath and shut her eyes briefly, soaking up the fresh air and warm sun.

Laesy found the Mandalorian speaking with Cara near a small hut

“Hey there, sleepy head” Cara greeted Laesy as she settled beside them, attempting to join their conversation. Laesy rubbed her eyes, clearing the last bit of sleep from them.

Laesy smiled softly at Cara but turned towards the Mandalorian, “uh, thanks for the bed. I told you—“

The Mandalorian cut her off quickly, “I wasn’t sleeping anyways.”

Laesy just nodded her head and looked back at Cara, “so what’s the plan?”

Cara and the Mandalorian began to explain to her the plan about tracking the raiders. They would leave at nightfall and scout out the enemy. They had to know what they were up against before establishing a plan. Laesy nodded to the duo and turned to find Omera to see if she had fixed up her old clothes. She wouldn’t be able to fight in the dress.

__

After returning from there scouting mission, the Mandalorian and Cara attempted to inform the village that they couldn’t stay any longer as it was too dangerous.

“But that’s why we have you”

“Help us”

“We hired you”

The villagers began to shout out there pleas at the three of them standing on the porch.

Cara pushed off the wall and stepped towards the edge of the porch, “That was before we knew about the AT-ST”

“What’s that?” Many questioned and looked at Cara confused.

“The armoured walker with two enormous guns that you knew about and didn’t tell us.” Cara spat back, frustrated.

Omera stepped forward and looked at all three of them in the eyes, “Please help us, were not leaving,” she shifted her gave to the shorter female, “Laesy please, we need your help.”

“But there is only three of us here” Laesy said gesturing to the three fighters on the porch. Omera looked around the group of her people all looking at the trio impatiently.

“There is at least 20 of us here” Omera gestured with one hand to her people.

“I mean fighters” Laesy lowered her head and the words came out softer then she wanted them too.

The villagers began to shout out that they can fight and are willing to learn. Laesy turned and looked at the Mandalorian who had remained silent after Cara took over.

“I’ve seen that thing take out entire companies of soldiers in a matter of minutes. You cannot fight that thing.” Cara spoke with her best calming tone.

“Unless we show them” The Mandalorian finally spoke.

“Mando… are you sure?” Laesy said. The Mandalorian turned his head faster than he wanted to look at Laesy. He hadn’t heard her call him since the other night when she was drunk. It wasn’t unusual for people to call him that but she refrained from really calling him anything other than what he was, a Mandalorian.

Laesy took a step in front of him to catch his attention again. The Mandalorian, Mando, just nodded his head.

__

Laesy was good with a blaster and she was even better with a knife. She used to practice alongside her father when she was younger. She had become quite skilled and eventually hr father gifted her with her vibroblade.

The Mandalorian was training some people to shoot, while Cara was training others to fight. Laesy sat on the side watching Cara bark orders are her trainees. She was strong, stronger than most women Laesy had ever seen. She was also fierce and didn’t back down from anything. Laesy admired her. She wished she could be more like her. Laesy’s eyes caught Cara’s but neither of them moved. Cara stopped yelling and just looked at Laesy. The girl on the ground suddenly felt a blush rush to her face and gave a small smile while looking away.

_ Cara Dune.  _ Laesy said her name in her head several times before standing up.

Laesy returned to the Mando who was helping the rest of the fights learn how to shoot. They were all positioned in a long line and haphazardly shooting at some frying pans hanging from a stick. Practically all of them missed their mark. Laesy took a stand at the end furthest away from Mando and aimed her blaster.

_ Hit. _

_ Hit. _

_ Hit. _

She felt everyone’s eyes on her. She continued to fire on the frying pan until it swung over top of the stick. She slowly turned to face Mando and the rest of the line, putting away her blaster. Everyone was staring at her expect Omera, she kept her blaster aimed at the target and fired several shots. Everyone hitting its mark. The group turned to face Omera and looked at her in shock. Laesy noticed Mando tilt his head towards her in what she thought to be admiration.

_ Jealousy. _

Laesy went to grab her blaster again to show up Omera but stopped once she saw the Mandalorian reach to help Omera with her stance. Instead she stormed off towards the barn.

__

“Weapons ready” Cara shouted from beside Laesy after luring the AT-ST and the raiders to the village.

Laesy looked down the line of fighters crouched down behind the barricades Mando had them build. She has her blaster in one hand and her blade in the other.

The AT-ST approached their small village in the direction of the pool  that they had trapped. Every second the AT-ST made its way closer, its thumps shaking the ground around Laesy. Every step it took, her heart raced faster and faster. She missed the adrenaline she got from a battle. Laesy felt a smile grow her face as she thought the plan was coming together very well. It would be over soon and she could have a drink.

“Just a few more steps.” The mandalorian said with a slight eagerness in his voice.

It stopped. 

Laesy looked at Cara with wide eyes, searching for a solution.  The silence was now deafening.

“It stopped” Cara so obviously stated.

Suddenly bright lights were beaming from the mech right towards the barricades.

“Get down! Get down!” Laesy shouted and tucked behind the wall further.

The eerie silence was only filled with the mechanical sound of the AT-ST moving from side to side scanning the walls. Laesy could hear Cara’s heavy breathing from her right. She noticed Mando next to Omera waiting for the mech to make a move. He had his Amban rifle ready to fire at anything that would move.  The silence was quickly interrupted by the AT-ST firing on a hut in the distance. Laesy almost got up to try and protect the children that were just a few huts away from the explosion. But before she could Mando grabbed her arm and pulled her down.   
  
“Hold your positions!” Cara shouted.

A roar erupted from the forest and a rush of raiders ran towards the villagers.

“Open fire!” Laesy yelled as a swarm of raiders entering in through the choke point they had setup earlier. A barrage of blaster fire quickly came and started taking out the raiders. The AT-ST started firing at the barricades, causing some towns folk to start running. 

“I need you” Cara said to the newest member. Laesy interpreted that differently than her intentions and she blushed. “That thing isn’t moving. We need to get it to take a step forward”

Laesy locked eyes with Cara and nodded.

“Mando, give me your rifle.” Mando came down to their level and started shaking his head.

“No.”

“Come on. I have a plan” Laesy could have nearly killed him right there. He was being his usual cold self. He looked at her and then at Cara.

He sighed. “Fine. I’ll cover you.” Mando shoved the rifle towards Laesy and she immediately took off towards the machine.

She jumped up from behind the barricade and started running towards the raiders with her weapons. Mando then shot at the AT-ST, forcing it to took at him giving Laesy a window of opportunity. A few raiders ran at her, she raised her blaster and effortlessly shot them before coming in close proximity to a raider with a spear, who quickly made a jab in her direction. She slid her feet out, making her come down to the ground to dodge the spear. The impact sending a shiver up her spine, and her previously thought to be healed wound flared with pain. On her knees she slid over the smooth wet mud and sliced the raiders ankles dropping him to the ground and in one fell swoop shot him in the back with her blaster. A blood curdling scream came to her right as another raider with an axe ran at her with an overhead swing. Laesy panicked and rolled out of the way, dropping the amban rifle into one of the pools. His axe hit the spot that she was in just moments ago, laesy didn’t skip a beat and raised her gun to fire.

*Click*

Laesy panicked, looking at her gun she saw it covered it mud, jamming it. The raider, laughed and ripped his axe out of the mud, turning and stomping his way over to her. She laid there in horror completely stunned as the raider raised his axe, maniacally laughing. To Laesy, it was like slow motion as the raider started to swing the axe down at her. Just a moment before her demise, a sudden flash of light hit the raider. The force of the shot making him fall over. A familiar voice shouted from the barricade.

“Come on, you got this.”

Laesy came to it, remembering there was still a mission to be done. She dived into the pool, and swam down searching for the rifle. Her old wound’s pain now spreading further down her arm. Grabbing the rifle, she moved to the mud wall surrounding the pool. All that was between her and the AT-ST now was 10 feet of water, and a 2 foot wall of dirt and mud. It all went silent for Laesy despite the fight still going on around her. She had her back pressed against the edge, her heart racing and her breathing became fast and rough.

Laesy took a deep breath in and turned around, her arm now becoming numb from pain she took aim at the AT-ST, her arms came steady and as she exhaled she pulled the trigger. She hit right in the window. The mech looking her direction and started firing its long bolts at her. Thankfully they went right past her and landed in the pool. She shot one more time before pressing her back one more time against the edge.

“Come on you big piece of junk” she murmured to herself.

With a grunt Laesy pushed off one last time and shot at the machine again. This time it took a step forward and fell into the trap. Laesy took cover as it fell. She saw a shadow fly over her head, she tried to turn and look but was immediately pulled back into the pool. There was a loud sound and a rumble in the ground, followed by water spraying everywhere. Laesy looked at what pulled her back from the blast and saw it was Mando. He was leaning against the edge as well breathing heavily.

“Was that the plan?” He asked her with a small laugh.

“Something like that” Smiling in his direction trying to catch her breath. 


	7. Shock

Laesy’s eyes shot open. She didn’t feel comfortable and barely slept the night after the battle, but when she did sleep she had a nightmare of the raiders. She had been in fights before, but never one where she felt so helpless and an inch away from death. Where she was this scared...the only other time she did was…   
  
_ No  _ She told herself,  _ now is not the time to think of that. _ _   
_ _   
_ She suddenly became thirsty, not for water but for alcohol to drown her sorrows in. She got out of bed, every movement hurt. Her slide last night, while very cool, was not very practical and caused her to be very sore. She got dressed, then looked over at the crib sitting in the corner. The child was soundly cooing as it slept. She wanted to hold it tightly after the night before, it must be so terrified but she thought it was best to let it sleep.   
  
Stepping outside, the sound of everybody cleaning up after the night before filled the air. Laesy noticed instantly that there was a sudden feeling of safety that emanated from everybody she interacted with on her way to the Mandalorian who was investigating the AT-ST. She felt immense pride that she could help and save this village from its tormenters. If only she could have done the same to her town when she was younger, she thought to herself. The thoughts felt like they were drilling a hole into her skull.    
  
“Laesy” The Mandalorian spoke out, knocking Laesy out of her thoughts. “Come have a look.”   
Laesy came over to the Mandalorian who was investigating the AT-ST’s cockpit. “I’m surprised these dirty scum could even pilot this thing.”

“Uh, yeah” Laesy spoke quietly, her mind a mess still. “Least they are gone now.” The Mandalorian stared at Laesy for a moment, looking like he wanted to say something but held back and looked at the AT-ST.

  
“Yeah.” The Mandalorian said, staring blankly at the AT-ST. The air became very awkward between the two, and was only interrupted when Laesy spoke up.   
  
“I’m, uh, I’m going to go find Cara.” She turned around and started walking away. She went there to see how Mando was doing, but the emotions wanted her to run away. She couldn’t show her emotions to Mando.   
  
“Laesy...good job.” The Mandalorian said in a harsh, but prideful tone. Laesy kept walking, but she immediately felt the weight of the thoughts being lifted off her shoulders. She smiled.

The Mandalorian watched her walk away and letting his gaze run up and down her entire body. That feeling was back and he tried to push it back down to where it couldn’t be found.    
  
Finding Cara wasn’t hard, she was sitting on a lawn chair on the porch of her hut, sipping spotchka while watching the kids playing. She had spent the night watching to make sure the raiders didn’t come back and now got time to sit back and relax.   
  
“Hey Cara.” Laesy spoke in a way like she was almost excited to see her.   
  
“Hey Walker Killer. Come have a seat.” Cara pointed at a seat next to her. Next to the seat was a table with a bottle of spotchka and a couple of glasses. Laesy took a seat and immediately started to pour herself a glass. “Whoa there, don’t drink it all. I’m here too you know.”   
  
“Well, like you said I killed the walker. I get the spotchka.” Laesy said as she took a sip of the drink. Alcohol, the one thing that gave Laesy happiness and she could feel the bad thoughts being drained away after every sip.   
  
“You did a good job taking out that walker. You would have made a fine rebel soldier.” Cara took a sip, a slight smile on her face.

  
“Thanks.” Laesy spoke, only half paying attention to the words coming out of Cara’s mouth. She was watching as Omera was putting the child down with the children to play. The joy in its eyes gave a glimmer of hope in Laesy’s heart. Laesy slowly watched for a couple of minutes as the child waddled its way around the garden, trying to catch frogs, grab shrimp that had fallen out of baskets, or catch up to the children playing tag.   
  
“Cute little bugger, hey? Omera makes a pretty good mom for the thing.” The words stung like a Viper wasp. Laesy took another sip, she could feel herself becoming numb from the alcohol. She was thankful spotchka was so strong, as every sip took away the pain of the words. Every sip also made her side glances at Cara last longer. Until Cara took notice.   
  
“Hey, slow it down there hotshot. It's only the afternoon. We don’t need a repeat of last week.” Laesy took another sip.   
  
Nobody tells her what to do.    
  
Cara reached for Laesy’s wrist to try and stop her from drinking. Laesy grabbed onto her wrist instead and looking over at Cara. Their eyes locked, and stayed there for a few seconds. Laesy felt something start to boil in her chest, she wasn’t sure if it was anger or something else. She let go of Cara’s wrist and reached for the bottle, maintaining eye contact she poured herself some more spotchka.   
  
__   
  
Cara was right, Laesy did need to slow down so she did. She still had a good buzz but wasn’t as drunk as the other night. Her and Cara were still sitting on the porch, enjoying the sunset and resting after the last week of hard work. At this point almost everyone went to bed. The Mandalorian was back in his own cot in their shared hut. 

  
Laesy Yawned, late night and early wake had made her sleepy. She slowly shifted in her seat to get up, and as she got onto her feet Cara stopped her.   
  
“Are you alright? What happened earlier...you weren’t your usual self.” Cara seemed concerned for once. Laesy stood in front of the chair and pondered what to do. Her mind telling her to run, but her heart wanting to stay. She had never had anybody ask her if she was okay in a long time, and it felt good. A single tear streamed down her cheek. Cara stood up and looked at Laesy. “Its okay, we’re alone. What's going on?”   
  
“Last night...I...I just got super afraid. I had been in fights before, fighting for strangers though,” she paused and took a deep breath, relaxing her shoulder before continuing. “The past weeks with everyone...you, Mando, and the child. I… I feel protective of you. I didn’t want to lose you,” Laesy slumped back down into her chair and gazed up at the night sky ever so slowly fading from a beautiful purple and orange to the deep onyx of night. “When that Raider was standing over me with his axe...I thought that was it, I thought I would never be able to see you, and Mando, again.” She stopped for a moment as Cara walked in front of her, kneeling down. Her eyes sympathetically peering into her crying eyes. Cara laid her hands on top of Laesy’s to comfort her, soothing Laesy’s iron grip on the arm of the chair. “And even if I did live, I didn’t want to have to go through any of you guys being hurt, or even killed. I lost my family once, I wouldn’t be able to handle....” Her words formed a lump in her throat and it got stuck, she was unable to finish her sentence without letting the tears stream down her burning cheeks.    
  


Cara knelt there silently for a moment, while Laesy let it out. Laesy wasn’t paying attention until she felt a finger caress her cheek, she flinched. The smooth warmth of Cara’s fingers danced on her cheek as she wiped the tears away that had escaped, unnoticed. This calmed Laesy down for a moment, she looked up into Cara’s eyes. Cara’s hand still on her cheek, the warmth from her hand was emanating down into Laesy’s body. Laesy wiped the rest of her tears out of her face, and when she could see again she noticed Cara was closer than before. Their eyes locking, Cara slowly inched her way closer and closer and Laesy followed suit.   
  
Laesy closed her eyes, she knew what was happening and was waiting for it. The suspense danced on her lips, and made her heart race faster and faster. Delicately, more delicately than Laesy could ever think Cara could be, their lips met. The same warmth from Cara’s fingers intensified and radiated from her lips, through her whole face, down her neck, and stopped at her core. 

Cara deepened the kiss, and brushed her tongue along Laesy’s top lip. Instinctively Laesy parted her lips allowing Cara access. Her tongue made slow work of Laesy’s mouth. She was reaching every corner in her mouth her tongue, eliciting an uncontrolled moan from Laesy. Cara smiled into the kiss.    
  
Suddenly, Laesy pulled away after becoming hyper away that they were still outside after hearing the sound of clanking metal. Cara now on top of her realized too and slowly backed away, keeping a lustful look at Laesy. Laesy brought her trembling fingertips to her lips and felt the wetness Cara left behind. Her eyes shifted to Cara who was giving a cunning smirk.   
  
“Want to take this inside?” Cara seductively whispered to Laesy. Laesy’s eyes widened at the proposition, Laesy’s heart yearned to say yes. She wasn’t opposed to women or being with a woman. She had many women in the past. 

  
But this was different.

  
Cara was different.

Mando was different. 

_ Mando. _

Her chest tightened and suddenly it became hard for her to breathe. She looked off into the darkness that had now fully descended on the village, faintly making out the shape of the thatched huts. Laesy blinked a few times trying to clear the confusion in her mind. Cara let her hand rest atop Laesy knee and squeezed lightly bringing Laesy’s gaze back to hers and pulling her lips into a small smile. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> My boyfriend and I co-wrote this together, please enjoy. 
> 
> Please comment and send us Kudos, they make us type faster!
> 
> We may be posting a special chapter exclusive to AO3 with Cara and Laesy smut. Let us know if you'd be interested.


	8. Departure

All of the previous days on Sorgan had been sunny except today. Clouds rolled in, in the early morning and had immediately started spilling their liquid. The villagers had stopped working as it had been raining too hard and everyone was inside there huts hiding. Laesy was sitting on the floor, playing with the child. The soothing sound of the rain drops hitting the roof of the hut calmed her. The Mandalorian on the other hand, was outside. There was an odd aura that emanated from him that Laesy had been noticing.   
  
He hadn’t been speaking to her, keeping his distance, and sometimes wouldn’t even look at her. Laesy didn’t like what was going on, and any attempt to try and figure out by asking him resulted in a cold stare. Like he was staring into Laesy’s soul with hatred. So Laesy had since been spending her time with the child. She hadn’t been able to since they arrived, so it was good to finally make a bond with him. 

Or her. 

Or it. 

Laesy wasn’t really sure what gender it was, if it even had a gender. This then made her realize it doesn’t even have a name. This made Laesy upset; If Mando was going to be taking care of this child he should come up with at least a name for it. Laesy shot up and stormed outside to meet The Mandalorian who was leaning against the front wall of the hut, staring blankly out into the forest.   
  
“Mando” Laesy barked out “Do you even have a name for this child? I mean if you’re going to be taking care of it, it needs a name.”    
  
The Mandalorian didn’t move, he didn’t even seem to breath. He was motionless and emotionless to the words that came out of Laesy’s mouth. This frustrated Laesy even more, his lack of reaction to her showed a lack to even care for the child. He had been doing this for two weeks.  _ What is with this silent treatment,  _ she thought to herself.  _ The first time she noticed it was-  _ _   
_   
“I’m leaving you here, with the child.” The Mandalorian spoke, little emotion in his voice. Still staring off in the distance and not even having the decency to look at Laesy.    
  
“What? No, I’m going with you. We’re going with you. You can’t just leave us here.” Laesy spoke out like her heart was just ripped out from her chest.    
  
“I can, and I am. On the ship with me is too dangerous of a life for him.” His lack of even acknowledging her, insulted Laesy. Why was he being so petty.   
  
“Okay, and what about me? I can still go with you. Omera was doing just as good of a job of being its Mother. You should know, since you and her are so close.” Laesy’s jealousy spiked. The Mandalorian’s hand clenched for a moment unnoticed.

“We’re so close?” He huffed still staring towards the remainder of the village.

“What does that mean, Mandalorian?” She got his attention. He slowly turned his head looking at her with a piercing glare even through his visor. 

“You know what it means.”

_ Jealousy?  _ Laesy thought.

Laesy didn’t say anything and just looked back through his T-visor with the same piercing glare. “What?” Laesy basically growled out. 

The Mandalorian shifted awkwardly in this armour before saying her name. “Cara Dune.”

Laesy had to suppress a smirk that was trying so hard to make its way to the surface. It was jealousy and she felt a pull in her chest. She wanted him to be jealous, that means he felt something. 

“You saw?” Laesy asked. 

The Mandalorian didn’t answer for a moment, clenching his fists again. “You… you kissed”

The smirk couldn’t be suppressed anymore and it made its way to Laesys face. Laesy reached up to her lips and delicately brushed her fingers on them, remembering Caras. 

“Jealous, Mando?” Laesy asked taking a step towards the armour warrior. 

The Mandalorian pushed off the wall and stormed off inside. Laesy stood in the doorway, leaning on the doorframe. “Jealousy can mean only one thing, Mando.” The Mandalorian stopped, looking over his shoulder at her. If looks could kill, she would fall where she stood. “You know I was drunk right? It was one drunken kiss. Nothing else happened.”   
  
“Being drunk isn’t an excuse.” The Mandalorian starting picking up his stuff to begin leaving. Laesy stood there for a moment, pondering what to do. She stopped that night because she knew it was just her being drunk. Cara was a fling and not someone she would want to be with. After thinking about Mando, she felt dirty and like she did something wrong. “So like I said earlier, you’re staying here. Then you and your girlfriend, Cara, can have all the time you want together.”    
  
“Why don’t you stay here as well, then you and your girlfriend, Omera, can do the same thing.” The Mandalorian turned around, a case in his hands. They both stared at each other for a moment. The tension in the room weighed a thousand tons. The jealousy in the room, weighed even more.   
  
“We were nothing. I was just training her to be a fighter.” The mandalorian spat out. Laesy could tell he was lying. There was something between those two.   
  
“Sure,” she huffed. “You can tell yourself that all you’d like, but the-”   
  
A blaring blaster shot echoed throughout the village. Laesy scanned the room, the child was missing.

“Find the child.” Mando said dropping all his things and running outside. The rain had stopped and more people were outside. 

Laesy followed him out running towards Omeras hut. She stopped short as she saw the child wadling towards a group of kids. She sprinted towards him and scooped him up, cradling him in her arms. He cooed happily at the affection, unaware of the danger he was perpetually in. 

Mando ran off into the distant forest, from which the blaster shot came. Laesy stayed behind making sure the village was alright and everybody got to safety.

______________

The Mandalorian came to the edge of the forest, where he could not see that Cara was standing overtop of a body. He ran up to Cara and upon getting closer he could hear a muffled beep was coming from underneath a dead bounty hunter. The Mandalorian turned him over, to reveal a tracking fob. The Mandalorian picked it up to inspect it.   
  
“ Who's he tracking?” Cara questioned.    
  
“The kid.” The Mandalorian looked off into the distance, where the village was located.   
  
“They know he’s here.”   
  
“Yes.”   
  
“Then they’ll keep coming.”   
  
“Yes.” The Mandalorian threw the  tracking fob on the ground , and stomped on it until it turned to dust. His fury matching a thousand suns, he started his walk back to the village.

“Hey! No thank you?” Cara barked. Reached for his arm to turn him around. The Mandalorian stopped and pulled him arm out of her strong grip. “What’s wrong with you these past few days?”

He turned his head to the side to look off into the trees and sighed, “Nothing.”

He went to turn away again and leave but was stopped again by Cara. “Hey, tin head! You aren’t getting away that easily. What is going on? Did Ms. AT-ST ruffle your feathers?”

He flinched and nearly threw a punch towards Cara. “No but you ruffled hers last week.” He huffed. 

“What?” Cara questioned, she had no idea what he was talking about.   
  
“I saw you two kissing. Don’t act like you don’t know what I’m talking about”   
  
“Oh I see” Cara smirked, “ Mr. Tin can has got a hard on for Laesy, huh?” The Mandalorian was an inch away from knocking her out. Last time he wasn’t as successful but he was going to make sure this time there would be no draw. “You know that we were just drunk right? We had been drinking all day. She isn’t my type. It was just a spur of the moment after she opened up to me about her problems.”   
  
The Mandalorian’s fist unclenched, “You mean-”   
  
“Yes, you were being an asshole and she’s all yours, tiger.” The Mandalorian turned to run towards the village but stopped for a moment. He looked over his shoulder to look at Cara.   
  
“Thank you, for saving the child.” He said and ran off to go find him.

  
______________   
  
  
Laesy had told everyone in the village to stay inside, to fortify the doors, and to stay there until Mando had come back. She herself was waiting in their own hut, hiding behind the bed as cover. The child sitting peacefully in the corner, completely oblivious as to why Laesy was behind a bed with blaster in hand.   
  
She had been waiting there for 20 minutes, the silence was killing her. On one hand, she wanted the Mandalorian to not come back, on the other, she wanted him to be safe. Maybe he took this opportunity to leave without anymore of an argument out of Laesy.   
  
Laesy’s thoughts were interrupted by the sound of footsteps, each step getting ever so slightly louder. She eventually heard the creaking of the floorboards as someone walked across the porch, she aimed her blaster at the front door ready to fire. A silhouette clad in armour entered the doorway, before she could shoot, it spoke out in a harsh familiar tone.   
  
“We’re leaving.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> May have a special edition smut chapter with Cara and Laesy coming soon!


	9. Excursion

The ship ride was dull and boring for Laesy. She almost regretted going with Mando. She hated his guts and wanted nothing to do with him, ignoring him at every possible moment. But, she loved that cute little green baby too much to want to leave, and although she didn’t want to admit it, she still had a soft spot for that man.   
  
She had spent her time taking care of the baby. The Mandalorian seemed to be more focused on flying the ship than the kid anyway. Right now she was spending the time bowling this steel ball that the kid loved so much. She would bowl it towards the child and the child would fetch it. She had the ball in her hand, and started to bowl it towards the child. The joy in its face for the ball was unlike anything else. The ball was heading straight for him, when all of a sudden it started to take a smooth turn to the right.    
  
“Hold on!” Mando shouted up from above, the sternness from his voice sending shivers down Laesy’s spine. She grabbed the child just in time for the ship to take an immediate banked turn. They slid until her feet had touched the wall, she slowly tried to make her way to the cockpit which meant she had to go up the ladder. Her hand reached out for the ladder when the ship started banking the other way, this sent both of them sliding until they hit the other side of the ship opposite to the ladder. The impact of metal against Laesy’s back caused an immense amount of pain, but the adrenaline was keeping her up. She didn’t have time to register pain right now.   
  


“Hold the ship still, you idiot!” A sense of annoyance came out of Laesy’s mouth. She would shoot Mando right now if she could. The ship banked again,  _ Perfect  _ Laesy thought to herself as she started to slide right for the ladder. She got her feet in position of a rung, hit the ladder and started climbing up.    
  
Mando heard the anger in Laesy’s steps when she reached the top. He leveled the ship and allowed a couple of seconds for her to reach the cockpit. Laesy stepped in, strapped the child in just in time for Mando to bank again. Laesy hit the wall and was about to yell at Mando when she saw a laser fly past the cockpit. Another one hitting the ship, causing a blaring noise to pop up on the dashboard of the ship. Mando disregarded the warning   
  
“We’re in a dogfight? Why didn’t you say something?” Laesy questioned at the top of her lungs.   
  
“Sit down, now!” She had never been in or even seen a dogfight in space before, and it was awesome but scary for her. She watched in awe as he effortlessly dodged and weaved the other ships fire.   
  
“I can bring you in warm, or I can bring you in cold.” A man said over the intercom. A moment later Laesy was shot forward into her chair as the ship stopped all momentum. The other ship collided into the Razor crest and continued on.    
  
“That's my line.” The Mandalorian coldly said, before blasting the ship into pieces. The explosion was spectacular to Laesy, but what he said was not. She laughed, Mando looked over slightly puzzled.   
  
“Did you honestly just say that?” The response to Laesy’s question was met with a grunt as he turned back to look at the controls, making sure not to hit the other ships parts. He examined the ships hull on a screen, and from what Laesy could see it was met with a lot of red looking warnings.   
  
“Looks like we’re going to have to make an unscheduled stop.” The Mandalorian spoke with disappointment, checking the starmap for the closest planet that could repair his ship. “Tatooine isn’t far from here.”   
  
______________

The ship sunk down, as the Mandalorian landed it and turned it off. Its hydraulics kicking in. Mando’s chair swiveled and turned to Laesy.    
  
“Stay here, I’m going to get whoever tends this docking bay to repair our ship. Don’t make a sound, we can’t let them know about the child.” The Mandalorian stared at Laesy, his orders angered her as she wanted to explore the planet too. But she also wanted to keep the child safe.   
  
“Fine...but you better get me something. And just so you know I’m doing this for the child, not because you told me to.” Laesy barked back in response, mando sighed and walked off. A moment later, Laesy peaked up over the dashboard and could see Mando talking to a lady mechanic and then walked off through a door after they finished talking.

“Okay little guy, I think it’s naptime for you.” Laesy picked up the child, who cooed softly as she embraced him. She put him to sleep quietly downstairs making sure to not disturb the mechanic and letting them know we were here. She slowly crept back up and sat in the Mandalorians bed. She had been sleeping their while they were on the ship. She grabbed her blaster from her holster, inspecting it.   
  
It was her dad’s. The gun itself was matted black, with a nicely engraved wooden handle. The entire weapon shows signs of use from over the years. She rubbed her fingers over the engraving on the handle,  _ Mando will not be happy if he ever figures out who owned this blaster _ she thought to herself.

The thoughts of her father soon crept to thoughts of her family. Her home planet, how it was taken from the Imperials. Her family was taken hostage, but only her father and herself made it out alive. The last time she ever saw her family. Ever since then, she vowed her life to make sure no other family had to share that same consequence. A tear rolled down Laesy’s face, landing on the blaster.  
  
She heard a commotion coming from outside. Shooting up she ran to look out of the cockpit window, she saw the mechanic holding the child. Swearing, she ran down the ladder, then kept her cool and jogged her way up to the mechanic.  
  
“Sorry, kids you know?” Lying through her teeth, her heart racing “Put them down for one second and they run away before you even notice.” She laughed nervously, staring into the mechanics eyes. _Does she know about the child?_   
  
“Oh, are you the mother?” The mechanic looked confused “Uh, is this your actu-”  
  
“Yes, thats me. The mandalorian and I adopted him. I’ll be taking him back now.” Laesy reached out for the child, he cooed and brought his arms out to be held.

______________

  
After being spotted, for safety reasons we were told to not be inside the ship while she worked on it. So Laesy and the child sat outside on a crate, out of the sun's burning desert rays in a little outcove. The door to her left opened up, and in walked the Mandalorian. He stared at Laesy, and she responded with a shrug while pointing towards the child. He sighed and walked over to the Mechanic and Laesy followed closely behind.    
  


“I started the repair on the fuel leak” She said, then started banging on a machine as it whirred. “I had a couple of setbacks I wanted to talk to you about. I didn’t use any droids as requested so it took me a lot longer than expected. But I figured you were good for the money since you had a couple of extra mouths to feed.” She motioned towards Laesy and the child, Mando had gone into the ship and out with a bag by the time she was done talking unaware if he was even listening to the rambling off that she was doing.   
  
“Thank you!” The Mandalorian said after taking a moment to process what she had said. Laesy was taken aback, he was actually sincere for once and showed some emotions.

“Oh I guess I was right, you got a job didn’t you?” The mechanic said, followed Mando as he walked towards an exit out of the hanger. Laesy followed closely behind. Laesy had to squint her eyes as they went through the door.   
  
“Hey Mando, what do you think?” An unfamiliar voice said standing in front of two speeders. This seemed to be a man that Mando had gotten the job with. Laesy didn’t know him, but looking at him and the way he behaved nonchalant and almost cocky like gave her a bad impression and she didn’t trust him.   
  
Mando and the man talked for a moment, before getting on the bike he looked at Laesy.    
  
“I don’t know how long I’ll be, stay here.” While what he said didn’t mean much more than a command to the others, Laesy after being with him for so long could tell in his words this meant to be safe. She blushed slightly.    
  
“I will.” She responded, as the two of them got onto their speeders and sped off into the distance.


	10. Savior

A day after the Mandalorian had left for his job, Laesy had been feeling a little worried.    
  
_ Was he okay, is he coming back, did he get captured, is he going to get the money? _

Her heart had gone from hating his guts, to worrying about him the minute he had left but she would never let him know. She had realized that without the Mandalorian she would have been in the middle of nowhere, but now she has him to protect her and she gets to take care of this amazing green child.   
  
Being in the hanger wasn’t the greatest place for her, but she decided to take the time to help the mechanic, who she later figured out is named Peli. Apparently he had told Peli to not allow her droids to help repair the ship, Laesy found this odd, and for that if they wanted to get off this dry planet any time soon, she needed to get to work on repairing.

The two of them had gotten up early to work on the ship and had worked for the better part of the morning under the two suns beating down on them. Sweat was beading down her newly tanned skin and making her dark auburn hair cling to her forehead. She had been draining the tank so that they could get repairs on it when the door to the bay opened. Laesy heart skipped a beat.   
  
“Mando?” Laesy said in a relieved tone turning around, hoping to see him.

“Not quite, princess.” The man that Mando had left with, named Toro, said while pointing his blaster at Peli. “I’d put your weapon on the ground, if I were you.”   
  
Laesy contemplated for a moment. She could take this guy, but not without Peli getting hurt. She wasn’t fast enough to shoot first. The tension in the air was suffocating. She slowly unbuttoned her holster, taking out her blaster with only her pointer and thumb, bringing it out and dropping it on the floor. All the while she stared at the man, she wished she could strangle this man to death.  _ If he laid a hand on Mando… _ _   
  
_

“You’re smart, I like that. Now, cuff yourself.” He said throwing a pair of restraining cuffs at Laesy’s feet. She didn’t flinch, staring at Toro. Nobody tells her what to do. “Okay, I see. Well, if this old lady isn’t enough for you to do that. Then what about the weird child.” He grabbed Peli, putting her into a hold, while he aimed his blaster at the child who had awoken and was standing on the ramp of the ship.   
  
“No!” Laesy involuntarily blurted out, reaching out for the child. “I’ll put them on...just don’t hurt him. Please.” She reached down, grabbing the cuffs and put them on. They clicked in, and Toro slowly started to move with Peli towards her. Laesy looked again at the child, who was waddling towards her.

“Stay there.” She tried to warn the child but to no avail. Toro pushed Peli up the ramp towards the inside of the ship and scooped up the child before he could make his way to Laesy. He cried out and was making grabbing gestures towards Laesy. The mercenary started to lunge towards the mand holding the baby but restrained herself in fear he might do something else. 

“Get in the ship” He barked. 

Laesy did as she was bid and entered the Razor Crest. 

___

The rest of the day was spent in silence and was the longest day Laesy had ever experienced. They had been waiting for Mando to get back, which could be hours, days, or maybe even weeks. She was sitting in the Razor Crest with the child on her lap and Peli was across from her, cuffed to the side of the ship. In between them sat Toro, anxiously tapping his foot. His excitement and anxiety of taking down the most wanted person in the guild right now was flooding over him. A sound blared from outside of the ship, as Peli’s droids ran away in terror from a man who had entered the hanger. “Move.” Toro grabbed the child, then motioned for Laesy to start walking to the top of the ramp of the Crest.   
  
“Took you long enough, Mando.” Toro said, he had Laesy at gunpoint and was holding the child with his other hand. The Mandalorian was at the bottom of the ramp, holding his blaster out at Toro, fury in his eyes. “Looks like I'm calling the shots now, huh partner? Drop your blaster and raise em.” Mando dropped his blaster to the floor, then slowly raised his hands up to his head. Giving the death stare to Toro. He never looked at Laesy, for if he did he might do something he would regret, something that could endanger everyone. Toro then hit Laesy in the back with his blaster, Mando’s footing faltered and he took a half step forward. “Cuff him”    
  
Laesy slowly walked up to the Mandalorian, looking him directly in his visor trying to find something to help her, but nothing. He didn’t move. Laesy stopped in front of him for a second and before getting behind him. She noticed his satchel was there, and on the side was an unused flare. She tried to suppress a smirk. 

“Be ready to run.” She whispered into his ear, she grabbed onto the flare and shot it off. Its blinding intensity gave them the perfect distraction to run. Unfortunately, in all of Laesy’s excitement she forgot to close her own eyes and was also blinded by the flare. Toro shot off randomly, one bullet straying and hitting Mando in the non-beskar leg. He fell to the ground in an agonizing groan. Laesy on the other hand stumbled blindly out of the way to safety. Shaking her heading letting her vision return slightly she noticed a piece of metal. A few feet from her laid Mando’s blaster, she was in cover and hidden for the time being, running out would get her shot so she stayed quiet.   
  
Toro, scanned the area trying to find her but being a bit blind still he couldn’t find anything. He walked up to the Mandalorian who was laying on the floor in pain.    
  
“Where is the girl, Mando?” Aiming his blaster at his face.   
  
“Right here.” Laesy said, after grabbing the blaster off of the floor, causing Toro to turn around. She shot Toro square in the chest, and he fell down. Laesy, processing that she just saved Mando stood there for a moment before she realized that he was still on the floor not moving. A rush of panic flooded over her and she ran over to him, almost tripping when she was slowing down. On the floor he laid, motionless. Laesy starting to get emotional turned him over, he made a groan. This meant to Laesy he was alive, but scanning for injuries she noticed his leg had a hole in its armour from Toro’s blaster. Laesy reached for the hole and brushed her fingers of the warm metal of his cuisses. Mando sat up slowly and grabbed her wrist. 

“That hurt.” he said looking at Laesy and smirking behind his helmet. “Help me up and find the child.”

Peli emerged from the settling dust with the baby in her still cuffed hands, “Got ‘em.”

Laesy helped Mando get up before running off towards the child she had grown closer to recently. Mando soon followed, slightly limping on his leg and helped Peli out of her cuffs. 

After a moment of making sure the child was safe and healthy, Laesy helped the Mandalorian enter the ship and dropped him down next to the medical supplies. She grabbed the crate and put it next to him.

  
“Okay, this might hurt but I need to get you armor off of your leg.”

  
“Its fine,” Mando said wincing as he adjusted himself to show Laesy where to remove it. Laesy proceeded to slowly remove the armor, trying to be careful to not cause too much pain. If she did cause pain she would never know as he never made any sound to show his discomfort. After the armour was taken out of the way Laesy had to deal with the cloth. She looked back towards the Mandalorians famous T-visor for confirmation that the next step was ok and she received a nod from him. She decided to just use her strength to rip through the existing hole and make it big enough for her to apply the biofoam.

“This is going to sting, a lot,” but before she could start applying the foam, a familiar green child walked into her view. He held out his hand towards Mando’s leg and slowly walked towards it. Laesy was confused but entranced by the child. It was as if he knew what he was doing. The child placed his hand near the wound then started focusing really hard. His usually wide eyes were squinted and his already wrinkly forehead became even more wrinkled. Laesy watched in amazement as his skin slowly closed up as if it was healing.

After a couple seconds of healing, the child dropped his hand then plumped on the floor from exhaustion. Mando and Laesy froze in amazement. Laesy reached down and touched the spot. It was smooth skin as if nothing had happened.   
  
“It's...healed. Like you weren’t even shot.”

“Well...that was something.” Peli said. In the confusion of the injury they had forgotten she was there, her words startled Laesy.

Laesy immediately pulled her hand away from his bare skin and stood up. The Mandalorian followed suit shortly after and replaced his cuisse as fast as possible. 

“I didn’t know he could do that,” he stated still in shock. Laesy reached down to pick him up and cradled the child in her arms while he recovered. 

The Mandalorian walked over to Laesy and looked over her shoulder at the sleeping child puzzled at his new skill. He knew he could move things with his mind but not heal. there was so much he didn’t know about him. 

Laesy sensed how close the Mandalorian was behind her and tried to hide the shiver that rose from the base of her spine. She trained her eyes on the little hairs on top of the green child to try and stop her thoughts from wandering. Suddenly, she felt cold metal lightly pressing against her back and saw a vambrace come around her shoulder towards the child. Mando grabbed the child's tiny hand and rubbed it between his two fingers. Laesy let out the breath she didn’t realize she was holding and for the first time felt at home. 

“You three make a very lovely family,” Peli declared softly, letting a smile spread across her face. 

The Mandalorian stepped away from Laesy and the child as fast as he could and Laesy cleared her throat awkwardly, looking over to the mechanic who continued to smile. She looked back down at the child with wide eyes trying to pretend she wasn’t there and that didn’t just happen. The Mandalorian turned to face the wall of his ship and shook his head, almost stumbling over a crate. His hand came up to the back of his neck and rubbed it rather roughly. The awkwardness was radiating from both of them and Peli snorted out a muffled laugh. Laesy glared at her with those still wide eyes, trying to tell her to stop. She was about to open her mouth to protest but Mando cut her off. 

“Here, this should cover it,” he said quite flatly to Peli. The Mandalorian handed her a pouch full of credit that he took from Toro’s body before entering the Crest. Peli gladly accepted the credits and turned to leave the ship. Laesy quickly rushed to the bunk and set the still sleeping babe on the bed to rest. 

The mechanic and Laesy rapidly finished the repairs and fueled up the Crest. Peli and the trio bid their goodbyes before entering the ship and settling into their respective seats in the cockpit. The Mandalorian began pushing the appropriate buttons for take off not bothering to turn to face her. Soon they had left the dusty orange planet behind. 

Laesy slumped her shoulder as she thought of the mechanics words. She was still upset with the way he treated her over the past little while. She was confused because of how close he was to her with the child and how that made her feel.  _ Home _ . She shook her head again to try and clear her thoughts, she couldn’t let them in.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for reading this far!
> 
> We are having fun and the next few chapters the characters will travel to new (non-canon) places.


	11. Rebel

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the delay in updates. This chapter was really hard to write as we have a very specific vision of where we want the story to go and transitioning from cannon to non-cannon was really difficult.
> 
> Please enjoy this chapter. We are very excited for the next part of Laesy's journey.

Laesy sat on the floor, the cold hard steel of the Razor Crest was numbing her to the core. The flight through hyperspace to their next destination was long and boring. But she didn't want to get up, she was having too good of a time with the child. He was standing on the other side of the cargo hold, arms outstretched towards her, begging for the ball.  
  
"Ready little guy?" Laesy asked, he cooed back as a response and she rolled the ball towards him. He turned and waddled over to it, pure laughter and happiness bursted out of him. The only joy Laesy had been having during the boring ship rides. Being in a grey hunk of junk really dulled her days, but this little guy brightened her up.  
  
"Wow! Good job!" She encouraged the child as he laughed with excitement looking towards her with the ball in hand. It took a lot of convincing Mando to let them keep and play with the ball during the travels only on the condition that next stop they get him a real toy to play with. The child dropped the ball on the floor, scrunching his face, arm outstretched, and the ball started to move its way to Laesy all on its own as he had started to do now that he was becoming more aware of his strength.

The first time she saw this, she called Mando down and was in shock. She saw the healing thing and had only heard of him moving objects. After quite a chuckle, Mando explained the mudhorn situation to Laesy. She was quite surprised that such a small creature was capable of such things. After Laesy's shock had subsided, Mando remained downstairs with them in the cargo hold. Mando reluctantly participated in their little game for a few hours, passing the ball between the three of them.

The joy of playing was suddenly interrupted by a sudden darkness. The child cried out in terror. Laesy immediately lurched forward in the child's direction, fumbling in the darkness to pick him up. His continuous wailing made it much easier and she finally found him and cradled in her arms, trying to sooth him. The silence became very apparent after the child's crying subsided. The noise of the engines had been a constant white noise and without it Laesy had a sudden awareness of how empty space is. Mando moved up the ladder with such speed, it made her shudder. Mando was very good at concealing his emotions behind his helmet but in this very moment he was not hiding his anger. He very loudly stomped up the ladder and Laesy could hear him slamming on some buttons in the cockpit.

  
"Everything alright up there?" Laesy echoed up to the cockpit. Soon after, the lights came back on and the hum of the engines started again. Laesy let out a sigh and looked down at the baby in her arms. He opened his eyes and a smile appeared on his face. With the child in one arm she slowly made her way up the ladder. She was met with a pair of boots and a set of hands that reached down to grab the baby from her arms. Laesy hauled herself up the remainder of the way and sat down in the co-pilot's seat next to Mando who had the baby in his lap.

  
"Ships still busted...Peli must not have been able to repair everything with Toro's interruption." Mando said. Since leaving Tatooine, and the close encounter with Toro the tension between the two had been severed. No longer did they want nothing to do with each other, now they had turned into a normal pair of friends. At least that's what they thought in their minds.

"Hm...so what do we do now?" Laesy sighed, being stuck in space was not the way she wanted to spend the rest of her life.  
  
"We'll have to find a place to get repairs for the ship, and need a job to pay for that as well. While we are at it, going to need to get this leg repaired." Mando said, looking down at his leg. The armour had turned black from the ash and soot that the blaster shot created.

_If only I got shot in the beskar leg,_ Mando thought to himself.

"Speaking of that, your leg, how is it?" She asked, inspecting the hole in his armour from her place in her chair. She was curious about how well the child's healing abilities had worked.

"Like new. He did a really good job." Mando replied, reaching for the hole in his cuisse and giving his leg a light shake.

"Yeah, seems like he did." She said, looking over at him as he was grabbing for his cape. She reached over and stroked his soft ears and he turned to look at him. He yawned and Laesy reached to grab him from the Mandalorians lap. "I'll put this stinker to bed then lets see what our options are."   
  
___

The child was peacefully sleeping downstairs in the cargo hold bunk. Laesy stepped up from the ladder and looked at Mando who was sitting in the pilot seat looking at his controls. She walked in, and took her seat next to him.  
  
"I never got to thank you for taking out Toro. That was a good shot." Mando thanked Laesy as he looked up from the console, his tone wasn't soft nor was it harsh but Laesy knew it was a genuine thank you.

  
"I mean, I wasn't going to just let you die. He was going to kill us all if he needed to." She tried to play cool, and act like it was nothing.   
  
"And with the AT-ST too. That was a good shot, where did you learn to shoot like that?" Mando questioned. Laesy hesitated for a split second. She had learned from her father. He would drill her everyday to hit every target over and over again until she could do it blind folded. He believed that everybody should be able to defend themselves and wanted his daughter to be the best. She perfected her skills elsewhere though.

  
"I was part of the Rebel Alliance. I learnt a lot about how to shoot during that time." Laesy turned away from Mando and stared at the open space in front of her. She abstained from bringing up her father. She wasn't ready to reveal her past just yet. It was sacred to her and Laesy felt if she revealed it, it would leave her vulnerable.

  
The Mandalorian hesitated for a moment. He had no idea she was a rebel and reprimanded himself for not taking better precautions when taking her on his ship. He was usually very diligent with the people he associated with. "Huh...really? Didn't know you were the rebel type."  
  
"Well I was. Not anymore. After the Imperials were taken out, I left town."  
  
"Why didn't you tell me?" His tone became more firm.   
  
"You never asked. And I don't like talking about my past." Laesy barked back. Mando nodded in understanding. The two acted very similarly about their past. Mando didn't press the topic any further. He understood not wanting to talk about his past, he had never opened up to her either but Mando couldn't help but feel a little bit hurt. He wanted her to open up to him.

Laesy noticed the way his shoulders slightly slumped and felt the need to explain herself more after being short with him. Laesy took a deep breath releasing her frustration before speaking, "I was a sniper for a while but I faced a lot of hand to hand combat as well--" she trailed off, trying to suppress the memories of her fellow troops falling next to her. "I joined when I was young. I wanted to believe in something, I guess."

Her solemn tone didn't go unnoticed by Mando. He nodded, "A sniper, eh? Interesting. Well does your rebel knowledge know of any planets we can lay low on?" he asked her, avoiding pressing too deep into her past.

___

The ship pulled out of hyperspace and sent the ball rolling towards the baby faster than Laesy had wanted it to. The child squealed and leapt to the side to grab it. He giggled in amusement as he prepared to roll it back. Laesy loved to hear his little laugh and would do anything to hear it.

"We are here," Mando called down from the cockpit, "get ready."

Laesy picked up the baby, despite his protests and started to put away all of the things he took out from the shelves. Laesy made her way up to the cockpit, baby in her arms as usual. She placed him in his pram and sat next to Mando, taking in the sight before her. It had been many cycles since she had seen this planet. It was a refuge for rebels. Laesy met some close friends here and oh, oh the cantina. Laesy shut her eyes trying to bring the memory more vividly to her mind. There was always a haze in the cantina and the music was always loud.

Mando broke her vision by speaking to someone on the radio.

"This is Batuu control, please take bay 6."

Mando effortlessly piloted the Razor Crest down to the surface, landing in the correct bay and goosebumps rose on Laesy's skin. She was equally excited and terrified as to who she might see here.


End file.
